News/Events

February brings us into slightly longer days, and many dormant orchids may soon start growing. We should have lots of Phalaenopsis in spike. Try not to move them and remember the main direction of light. Turning them now may give you crooked spikes.

Once the largest bud is the size of a pea, stake the flower spike upright and the flowers will nicely cascade for you. Some of the newer Phalaenopsis really don’t need much staking at all. Like our Dendrobiums, they are being bred to have shorter upright spikes that need less staking. I kind of miss the old style spikes, even though they were really cumbersome to transport and took up a lot of space.

Our Hono Honos should still be resting and the leaves should have fallen off (if we have been drying them out). In fact, some the early bloomers should be initiating flower buds along the stem. Take a close look and as these buds begin to develop you may want to do a preventative spray to keep the flower thrips from attacking the young buds. Minimally with isopropyl alcohol, Safers Soap, or better yet Bayer 3 n 1. The Bayer 3 n 1, is a systemic and will give you a residual killing of the thrips. Let’s get some nice Honos for our Windward Show.

Speaking of the show, it is about a month and a half away and it is not too early to begin to stake and groom the orchids that may bloom. Some of the early things to do is to remove the old sheathing for the Cattleyas, because they hide scales and other critters. Apply slug/snail bait, because we don’t want to bring friends in with our orchids. Also, check for ants; water the orchids heavily and if ants come out, the orchid needs repotting and would not be suitable to bring in. Please remove all weeds; the tiny seeds are easily spread to nearby orchids.